The MS Runner

Wow.  It’s amazing to me that when I’m not running, I eat like a pig.  This past week was a “no running zone” week.  I decided not to run and see if my knee would heal up.  I finally headed out today, one week after my last run, and ran 14 miles.  So far so good.  The proof in the pudding will be tomorrow.  If my knee is going to explode again, it will happen tomorrow.  Right now it feels fine.  So I didn’t run all week, and I was starving.  I would eat breakfast and be hungry an hour later.  I would eat lunch and look around to see what else I could stuff in my face.  Luckily at dinner, I would eat and then drink 6 beers and not really be all that hungry.  Maybe I should be drinking beer all day?  I’m hoping my knee is going to be okay because I’m almost at the peak of my training.  Next Saturday I do 22 miles, and then 2 weeks after that, I do 24.  Eight weeks from now is the marathon and if I lose any more days because of my knee, it’s going to really set me back.  Blah, blah, blah.  Woe is me.

On a lighter note, my son Jason got engaged this weekend and it looks like the wedding will be next summer.  Mmmm….maybe I could work that around some marathon in North Carolina?

Next week is the Rocky Mountain 1/2 Marathon in Denver, and my goal for this one is to just break 2 hours.  I haven’t been running a whole lot since my last 1/2 marathon, which was only 3 weeks ago, and I can sure tell.   But that’s okay.  This was never a target run or anything like that, just something to keep the adrenaline going.

The Detroit Red Wings are playing well at home, and lousy on the road.  They are up 3 games to 2, and game six is in Pittsburgh.  As much as I would like to see them win at home, they need to get it over with now.

We finally got cable the other day.  Now my question is, “do I now have DVR, and can I get rid of my VCR”?  My dog Miles chewed the cord on my VCR anyway, so it’s not like I’ll miss it.

How do so many people think that what President Obama is doing is so great?  His massive, massive spending is going to ruin this county.  Soon we will all have to send the government over half of our paycheck.  Shit, I already send my ex-wife almost half my paycheck.  He wants government run health care?  The government can’t even run the post office or Amtrack effectively.

Not to be outdone, but the Detroit Tigers are in first place.  I haven’t been following them yet (it is still hockey season), so I don’t know if they are a good team, or just that there are so many bad teams.

Why is it that I cringe at the beer store when my favorite beer is about $8.00 for a six pack, but when I go out to the bar, I’ll not even think about paying $4.50 for one pint?

Did I ever mention that Tom Brady of The New England Patriots is great?  I think that if I were gay, he’d be the one.

There is a 5K that I’m going to sign up for and it’s coming up soon.  It’s called the Undy 5000, and instead of  getting tee shirts, you get boxer shorts.  This run is really going to be “brief”.

I did the half at the Denver Marathon this past weekend and I must say that it was a success.  My goal was not to push myself too hard, finish somewhere around 2 hours, and not hurt my knee.  The day was perfect for running.  It was 50 degrees at the start and got up to about 62 at the end.  The one thing that I would change about this marathon is the start.  You have the marathoners, the half marathoners, and the relaythoners all starting together.  It’s like a freakin’ cattle call and I felt like I was going to go to the slaughterhouse.  And the one thing that really pisses me off is the people that line up towards the front with runners that will run the race in 3 hours or so, and the only thing that they can run well with is their mouth.  Oye.  Anyways, I think they should have qualifying waves and if you are a slow poke, you will have to be at the end. But, after the crazy start, it thinned out a bit, but there were always other runners around you.  I like that because if can fall into a group that runs your pace, it seems that much easier to run.

Around mile 5, my legs started feeling heavy.  Being that I hadn’t run longer than 10 miles sine June, I was a bit concerned.  But then at mile 6, I had one of my Stinger Energy Gels, and felt much better.  I probably should have taken it a mile sooner, but I’m a creature of habit.  I seem to always have one at mile 6 instead of having one when I need it.

After mile 6, I ran into someone I knew and she was doing the half also.  This is a week after she ran the Chicago Marathon!  Amazing.

Between mile 7 and mile 11, I really don’t remember much.  I kind of get into a zone where I don’t notice anything or even pay attention to my time.  I checked my watch at mile 11, and it was at 1 hour and 42 minutes.  I was doing okay, and I didn’t even try and do the math to see if I was going to make it in 2 hours.   I just kept along at the pace I was going and figured I’d be right about 2 hours.

Once I hit the point where you could see the finish, I thought I’d pick up the pace a bit, because I felt strong and good.  There was less than a half mile to go, and I think I passed about 15 people to get to the finish line.  My final time was 1:59:38.  I broke 2 hours, and more importantly, I didn’t hurt myself.

One nice thing about this marathon, was the beer garden afterwards.  They actually had some good beer instead of the typical Bud or Coors.  It was all from Left Hand Brewing Company here in Colorado.  As I was sitting there tossing back a few Sawtooth Ales’s, this woman sat down next to me and starting talking about the run.  It turns out that she is 66 years old, ran the half marathon that day, and has done 5 marathons already this year!  She’s not even sure how many marathons she has done in her life, but she said it’s well over a hundred.  Maybe close to two hundred.  Incredible!

Well that’s it, and now I aim for the OBX Marathon in North Carolina.  Since I have not run much this summer, I’m doing the half.  At sea level, I’m shooting for 1:45.

I wonder if they called it Runnin’ of the Green because most people looked a little green since it was the day after most of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. The day before this race was not a good way to prepare for this run for me. In the morning I ran 12 miles of which 4 miles were at a 7:30 pace. Then Diane and I went downtown and took in the ambiance that was St Patrick’s Day. And although it was 2 days before my birthday, we were celebrating that also.

The race attracted over 3,000 people which is crazy. The thing that gets me is the numb nuts that are up towards the front of the start line, and they have no business being there. There were people (I call them people, not runners) that after a mile were walking! This made for a really slow start for me and also made me frustrated.

The weather was very nice, around 40 degrees, but a little windy. Also downtown Denver has a few streets that are nasty hills! Other than a few dogs and a couple of strollers (don’t get me started on that stuff!), there were no other major incidents to speak of. I ended up doing 32:36 which was not too shabby I must say. That put in in about the top 10% of all the runners that day. 367th out of 3112 runners. The best part however is that they have Killian’s beer at the end. Slainte.

I enjoy reading some of the other running blogs that I come across because they sometimes have good information, or some type of training tip that is useful.  It is a struggle sometimes to come up with something on my end that is useful, and maybe just slightly entertaining.  If this was just a journal that I listed how many miles I ran today, what type of terrain, and what the weather was like, I wouldn’t want to share that because for the most part, I don’t think anyone really cares.  “OMG, Dave ran 10 miles today and it was only 20 degrees!  I hope he’s okay!”  That being said, I ran 10 miles on Saturday and it was 35 degrees!  And I’m okay.  This was a recovery week and even though I only ran 10 miles, I did 4 miles of it at a 7:45 pace which for me is great.  Along the way, I spotted a bald eagle in a tree and it was totally awesome.  That thing was huge!  One bonus lately is it is staying lighter out later now, so at least when I get home from work and go running, there still is some daylight.  (Who cares Dave?  We can see that it’s staying lighter out.  We are not blind.)  Um, well I did stick to my guns about drinking only light beer despite my son Jason giving me shit about it.  He is somewhat confused in that he thinks that I’m either 260 pounds or 150 pounds.  I did decide though that Amstel Light is the way to go.  It is the best tasting light beer on the market in my opinion.

This week the new gym I joined opens up and I am going to try and work out in the mornings now, and go running after work.  I will see how that goes.  It may be that the gym will be packed because it’s brand new, and I won’t enjoy it if I have to fight over the equipment.  Stay tuned for more breath taking details on this, and many other earth shattering events to come.